Gas-engine.



i w. l. TWOMBLY.

GAS ENGINE.

APPLICATIQN FILED JUNE 21,1912.

Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

' 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

A TTOH/VEY w 1. TWOMBLY.

GAS ENGIN'EW APPLICATION FILED JU'NE 21.1912.

1,179,055. Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- l/ um will IIIIIIIIIIII INVENTOR.

Willard Irvin Wvombly Y A TTOHNEY WITNESSES:

W. I. TWOMBLY.

GAS ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 21,1912.

Patented Apr. 11, .1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

W/TNE88E8: INVENTOR.

- I Wmard Irving o y 6 a 25 B A TTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. I

WILLARD IRVING 'rwoMBLY, on NEW YORK, N'Qy nssieNon TO TWOMBLY MoronsCOMPANY, on NEW YORK, N. 'Y., A CORPORATION on NEW YORK.

GAS-EKGINE.

To all whom it may concern: I Be it known that I, WILLARD IRVING'IwoMBLY, a citizen of the United States,.

It is the objectof the invention toprovide.

means to muflle the burnt gases as they are exhausted from thecylinders, and to provide adjustable means whereby instead of mulfiingthe burnt gases to permitthem to be exhausted directly to theatmosphere, or to permit a portion of the gases to be exhausted directlyto the atmosphere and to mufile a portion of suchgases;

In the drawings accompanying and form ing a part of this specification,Figure 1 is a front elevation of a rotary cylinder en- I gine, partly insection, illustrating an. em-

bodiment of my invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged front elevation of aportion of my improved means to muflie the exhaust from the cylinders.Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view looking at the top of oneofthe cylindersillustrating the means to permit the exhaust of the burnt gases from thecylinders directly to the atmosphere. Fig. 4: is an enlarged sectionalside elevation of the head of a cylinder with my improvements appliedthereto. Figs. 5 and 6 are plan andperspective views, respectively, ofthe adjustable means to permit the exhaust of the burnt gases from thecylinders directly to the atmosphere; and Fig. 7 is an enlargedsectional end elevation of the means to mufile the exhaust of the burntgases from the cylinders.

Similar characters of reference designate like parts throughout thedifierent views of the drawings.

In the drawings I have illustrated an embodiment of my invention inconnection with a rotary engine comprising seven radially projectingcylinders 8 fixed to acasing 9 rotatably mounted on a hollow crankshaft, the charge of fuel being drawn into the Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

Application filed June 21, 1912. Serial No. 704,973.

- casing through the hollow crank shaft and the charge of fuel to thecylinders controlled by mechanically operated valves in the pis- .ton,(not shown,) substantially as illustrated and described in my co-pendingapplication filed September 19, 1911, Serial No. 650,194, to whichreference may be had for a more clear understanding'of the same.

The exhaust of the burnt gases'from the cylinders is controlled byvalves 10 seated in removable valve seats or cagesll screw threaded intoopenings in the heads of the cylinders with the stems 12 slidablysupported in a central'sleeve or boss 13 of the .valve cages. Theopening and closing of the valves is controlled by a cam 14: on thecrank shaft through pusher rods 15 connected at one end 'tocam-followersor shoes 16, said rods pivotally connected at the otherend, as at 16, to one end of rockers 17 the other forked end 18 of therockers engaging between collars 19,19, on the end of the valve stems;.springs 20 maintain the valves closed. I

In this type of engine as heretofore constructed, it is the usual customto exhaust the burnt gases from the cylinders directly to theatmosphere. However, as is well known, this type of engine isextensively.

used as the motive power in aeroplanes in connection with aerialnavigation, and should a rich gas mixture be used and the engine rotateat a high velocity there is not a complete combustion of the gases inthe cylinders before the exhaust takes place with the result that aflameshoots out through the exhaust ports often resulting. disastrouslyowing to the structure of the aeroplane taking fire from said flame fromthe exhaust. Furthermore, the noise of, the exhgiist from the cylindersis very objectiona e. provide a muffler in the form of an annularchamber (designated in a general 'way'by 1W1) encircling orcircumferentially extending around the heads of the cylinders, saidchamber being connected and common to all of the cylinders and rotatabletherewith. In the present instance said chamber comprises a pair ofaxially separable sections 21, 21, connected-together by bolts or tienormally I To overcome these disadvantages I- l rods 22, and whenconnected having a series of tubular or sleeve portions 23 extendingradially therethmugh, one for each cylinseries ofports or openings 25 inthe walls thereof to connect said portions and the cylinders with thechamber M, the latter chamber also, having ports 26, 27 in the front andrear walls. The outer open ends of the tubular portions 23 are normallyclosed by a pair of disks 28, '29 engaging in an'annular seat thereinand having central openings for the passage of the valve cage boss 13.In operation as the valves are opened and the outer ends of the tubularportions 23 are closed by the disks 28, 29, the burnt gases from thecylinders in a highly compressed state pass through the sleeve ports 25into the chamber M, in which they are fully expanded and graduallyexpelled through the ports 26, 27. To facilitate the cooling of thechamber M it is provided with a plurality of fins or ribs 31.

To permit of the burnt gases from the cylinders to exhaust. directlythrough the tubular portions 23 to the atmosphere I provide the disks 28with openings, in the present instance two diametrically oppositesegmental apertures 32, 3'2, and fix said disks in the seat 30 in thechamber sleeves23. The disks 29 are also provided with diametricallyopposite segmental openings 33' and rotatably supported in the seats 30,whereby they may be adjusted relatively to the disks 28 and locked inadjusted positions by clamping collars 3st. Should it be desired toexhaust direct to the atmosphere the collars 34 are loosened and thedisks :29, which are in thenature of shutters, adjusted bymeans of afinger piece 35 so that the openings therein register with the openingsin the disks 28.when.thecollars 34 are again tightened and the diskslocked in position.

Should it be desired to exhaust through the chamber M, the disks 29 areadjusted so that the openings therein lie adjacent to the imperforatedportions of the disks 28 entirely shutting off the egress of the exhaust1 through the sleeve portions 23 directly to the atmosphere. The disks29 may also be adjusted so that only a portion of the openings in thedisks 28 are uncovered, thereby permitting only a portion of the highpressures of combustion to exhaust directly to the atmosphere and aportion through the chamber M.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of my invention, andportions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In an internal combustion engine, the combination with a cylinderhaving an exhaust port in the head thereof, of a chamber connected tothe exhaust port of the cylinder having outlet ports to exhaust theburnt gases from the cylinder through said chamher; and means in saidchamber in line with the exhaust port in the cylinder to permit theburnt gases to exhaust from the cylinder directly to the atmosphere orthrough the ports in said chamber.

2. In an internal combustion engine, the combination with a cylinderhaving an exhaust port in the head thereof, of a chamber connected tothe exhaust port of the cylinder having outlet ports to exhaust theburnt gases from the cylinder through said chamber; an-outlet in thechamber in line with the exhaust port of the cylinder to permit theexhaust of the burnt gases from the cylinder directly to the atmosphere;and means to open and close said outlet to permit the burnt gases fromthe cylinder to exhaust directly through the port in the chamber in linewith the exhaust port of the Icjylinder or through the ports in thecham- 3. In an internal combustion engine, the combination with acylinder having a valve-controlled exhaust port in the head thereof,of,a chamber connected to the exhaust port of the cylinder having outletports to exhaust the burnt gases from the cylinder through said chamber;an outlet in the chamber concentric with the exhaust port in thecylinder to permit the exhaust of the burnt gases from the cylinderdirectly to the atmosphere; and a shutter to open and close said outletto permit the burnt gases to exhaust from the cylinder through saidoutlet directly to the atmosphere or through the chamber and chamberports, or to regulate the size of said outlet to permit a portion of theburnt gases from the c v1in der to exhaust through said outlet and aportion through the chamber.,

4. In an internal combustion engine. the combination with a series ofradially projecting and rotatable cylinders having exhaust ports in theheads thereof, of an annular chamber connected to and rotatable with thecylinders and with which the exhaust ports of the cylinders communicate.said chamber extending around the ends of the cylinders and comprising apair of axially separable sections having circumferentially disposedcooling fins; and ports in the front and rear walls of said chambers atall times open to the atmosphere whereby nular chamber connected to androtatable with said cylinders and with which the 6X- haust portscommunicate; openings in the front and rear walls of said chamberswhereby to exhaust the burnt gases from the cylinders through saidchamber; and adjustable openings in the peripheral wall of said chamberconcentric with the exhaust'ports of the cylinders whereby to permit theexhaust of the burnt gases of the cylinders directly to the atmosphere.

-6. In an internal combustion'engine, the combination with a series ofradially projecting and rotatable cylinders having valve controlledexhaust ports in the heads thereof, of an annular chamber-connected tothe headsof and rotatable with the cylinders;

openings in said chamber with which the exhaust ports in the cylinderscommunicate; ports in thefront and rear walls of said chamber whereby toexhaust the burnt gases from the cylinder through said chamber; openingsin the peripheral walls of the chambers concentric with the exhaustports and adjustable means to open and close said openings whereby topermit the exhaust of the gases from the cylinders direct to theatmosphere through said openings or through the ports in the front andrear of the annular chamber.

7. In an internal combustion engine,the combination with a series ofradially projectin and rotatable cylinders having valve contro ledexhaust ports in the heads thereof, of an annular chamber connected tothe heads of and rotatable with the cylinders;

,- openings in said chamber with which the exhaust ports in thecylinders communicate; openings in the front and rear Walls of saidchamber whereby to exhaust the burnt gases from the cylinder throughsaid chamber;

openings in the peripheral walls of the chamber concentric with theexhaust ports to permit the exhaust of the burnt gases from thecylinders directly to the atmosfrom the cylinder through said chamberand chamber ports; openings in the peripheral walls of the chamberconcentric with the exhaust ports in the cylinder; and adjustable meansto open and close each of said openings whereby to permit the exhaust ofthe gases from the cylinders direct tothe atmosphere through saidopenings or through the ports in the front and rear walls of the annularchamber, comprising a pair of disks having openings therein, one of saiddisks nular flanges to project beyond the ends of the cylinders; anannular chamber to encircle the ends of the cylinders and having annularopenings in which the annular flanges of the valve seats engage; andoutlet ports in said annular chamber whereby to exhaust the burnt gasesfrom the cylinders through said chamber.

phere; and adjustable means to open andclose each of said openingswhereby to permitthe exhaust of the gases from the cylinders direct tothe atmosphereor through the annular chamber, comprising a pair of diskshaving openings therein, one of said disks being fixed and the otheradjustable whereby the openings in the adjustable disk may be caused toregister with the openings in the fixed disk. I J I 8. In an internalcombustion engine, the combination with a series of radially projectingand rotatable cylinders having valve controlled exhaust ports in theheads thereof, of an annular chamber connected to the heads of androtatable with the cylinders; openings in said chamber with which theexhaust ports in the cylinders communicate; ports in the front and rearwalls of said chamber whereb to exhaust the burnt gases 10. In aninternal combustion engine, the combinatlon with a series of radiallyprojecting and rotatable cylinders having exhaust ports in the headsthereof, of removable valve seats in said exhaust ports having annularflange portions to project beyond the cylinder heads; an annular chamberto enportions extending radially through said chamber in which the seatflanges engage to prevent axial and circumferential displace ment ofsaid chamber relative to the cylinders; inlet ports leading from saidsleeve portions to the chamber; and outlet ports in the chamber wherebyto exhaust the burnt gases from the cylinders through vthe cham- 11. Inan internal combustion engine, the combination with a series of radiallyprojecting and rotatable cylinders having exhaust ports in the headsthereof, of removable valve seats in said ports having annular flangesto project. beyond the ends of the cylinders and having central bossesor sleeves; valves seated in said seats with the valve stems slidablyengaging in the seat bosses; an annular chamber to encircle the heads ofthe cylinders and having annular sleeve portions extending radiallythrough said chamber in which the flanges of the said chamber; andadjustable means in the opposite ends of the sleeve portion to permitthe exhaust of the burnt gases from the cylinders direct to theatmosphere.

12. In an internal combustion engine, the combination with a series ofradially proje'cting and rotatable cylinders having exhaust ports in theheads thereof, of removable valve seats in said ports having annularflanges to project beyond the ends of the 1 0 ,cylinders and havingcentral bosses or sleeves valves seated in said seats with the valvestems slidably engaging in the seat bosses; an annular chamber toencircle the heads of the cylinders and having sleeve portions extendingradially through said chamber in which the flanges of the valve seatsengage; 1n1et pgrts leading from the annular sleeve portions to thechamber; outlet portsin said chamber whereby to exhaust the burnt gasesfrom the cylinders through said chamber;

burnt gases from the cylinders direct to the atmosphere, comprisingfixed disks having diametrically opposite segmental openings, androtatable disks having diametrically op-t posite segmental openings andadapted to be adjusted so that the openings therein register with theopenings in the fixed disks; and means to lock the rotatable disks inadjusted positions.

' VILLARD IRVING TWOMBLY.

Witnesses:

LAURA E. SMITH, P. PHILIPP.

adjustable means in the opposite ends of the sleeve portions to permitthe exhaust of the

